Colorado governor orders pesticide-tainted pot destroyed

Colorado’s governor has ordered the destruction of marijuana treated with unapproved pesticides, more than six months after Denver authorities started quarantining plants tainted by unauthorized chemicals.

Gov. John Hickenlooper issued an executive order Thursday calling marijuana treated with certain pesticides a “threat to public safety” and said it should be destroyed.

The order came after The Denver Post reported that pesticides barred for use on cannabis were still being applied and found at high concentrations in products sold to consumers.

Denver city officials placed thousands of plants on hold last spring after finding they’d been treated with unauthorized chemicals.

The city has since issued a half-dozen recalls of marijuana products. Other plants have been released back into commerce because residual levels of the pesticides dropped to safe levels.